Listless Bruins failing to respond in playoff race heat

Failing to make the playoffs will likely get Boston Bruins GM Peter Chiarelli fired; Coyotes defenseman Oliver-Ekman Larsson deserves Norris Trophy consideraton; more NHL notes.

A trio of quick hits:

• If any team in the Eastern Conference is perfectly built to handle the pressures of a tight playoff race, it’s the Bruins. This is a veteran group, loaded with players who earned the Stanley Cup in 2011, backstopped by reigning Vezina Trophy winner Tuukka Rask and coached by a Jack Adams honoree, Claude Julien. They’re battle-tested. Proven.

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So how is it that this team, which just eight days ago held the first wild-card berth in the East, has dropped five straight and is on the verge of falling into ninth place tonight if the Senators beat the Sharks?

On the surface, there’s been a shocking lack of desperation shown by Boston, an absence of an emotional response to the dire situation. That’s inexcusable. This is a team that was handed a chance last week to crush the dreams of its two closest pursuers, Ottawa and the Panthers, and somehow failed to match the intensity of its opponents on either night. Outside of a revitalized Brad Marchand and the always excellent Patrice Bergeron, not a single Bruins player can argue that he’s been up to the challenge.

Fingers are already being pointed at Julien, whose decision making can be inscrutable at times. His recent over-reliance on defenseman Dennis Seidenberg, for instance, is hard to comprehend beyond a blind allegiance to a veteran who’s gotten the job done in the past. The problem here is that Seidenberg has never quite recovered from the knee surgery that cut his 2013–14 season short, and he’s struggled mightily to handle the heavier workload that is being demanded of him as a result of injuries to Zdeno Chara and Dougie Hamilton. Case in point: Seidenberg was a disaster in Sunday's 5–3 loss to the Lightning, caught on the ice for four of Tampa Bay’s five goals.

But it all circles back to GM Peter Chiarelli’s mismanagement of the salary cap and his subsequent preseason short selling of Johnny Boychuk to the Islanders. Boychuk is the player who Boston has been missing all season long, a minute-munching physical presence who is a steadying voice both in the room and on the bench. Losing him tore the heart out of this team—the heart that should be carrying the Bruins through this treacherous stretch.

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When CEO Charlie Jacobs put the team on notice in January, saying that everyone’s performance was under review, it seemed unlikely that the man who built a champion just four years ago would be held accountable for this season’s disaster. Now? If Boston falls short, it’s a good bet that Chiarelli will pay the price.

• What’s the top individual story of the NHL’s second-half? Is it Carey Price’s Hart Trophy bid? How about Devan Dubnyk’s one-man resurrection of the Wild? Or maybe the record-setting debut of Senators rookie Andrew Hammond?

Each is compelling in its own way. There’s a problem for the league, though: Every one of them revolves around goal prevention rather than goal scoring.

Nothing against those puckstoppers. Defense, after all, wins championships. But scoring sells the game, which is why we all need a little more Oliver Ekman-Larsson.

With his sensational end-to-end effort in last night’s 3–1 loss to the Canucks, the Coyotes star quietly became the first defenseman to score 20 goals this season. He also became the first ever Arizona defenseman to score 20 in a season, and the first in franchise history since Phil Housley and Frederik Olausson both hit the milestone back in 1991–92.

If you missed Ekman-Larsson’s goal, it’s well worth a watch. It was a pull-you-out-of-your-seat display of speed, stick-handling, shooting and determination that saw him dance through five Vancouver skaters and put two shots on goalie Jacob Markstrom before finally beating him up high on his third attempt. Just a remarkable play.

Ekman-Larsson came into this season with only 31 goals in 257 NHL games, and while he’s shown flashes of excellence, there has always been an expectation that there was more to his game. He’s starting to show it this season, handling a heavier load mentally as well as physically on a team that’s still in the punching bag-phase of its rebuild. He’s becoming a dominant possession player and he’s creating more shots on his own—already a career-high 236, a big reason why he’s finishing more often.

It’s tough for a guy on a team that’s this bad to get any notice, especially when he’s based out west, but Ekman-Larsson is playing at a level that deserves some Norris Trophy consideration.

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• Stars goalie Kari Lehtonen is in the midst of a solid run. After an impressive 33-save shutout of the Blackhawks on Saturday night, he is 5-1-0 in his last six appearances, with a 1.67 goals-against average and a .933 save percentage. The veteran is also keeping things interesting for a team that, mathematically at least, still has a shot at a playoff spot in the West. But this taste of success has to be maddening for Dallas, an organization has gotten used to seeing Lehtonen turn up his game when the pressure is off and crumble when there’s something on the line. Remember when the Stars still had life in mid-February and Lehtonen responded by allowing 14 goals in a three-game span, including a converted touchdown to the Red Wings when his teammates had given him six goals to work with? That’s the game that ripped their hearts out. When this season wraps up, Lehtonen’s instability will be viewed as the No. 1 reason why a team with the league’s second-ranked offense was a playoff DNQ. And figuring out how to proceed will pose the biggest challenge of Jim Nill’s tenure as Dallas’s general manager.

At least Nill can move forward knowing that his young defense is on the verge of proving itself to be every bit as good as hoped. The early return of 23-year-old Patrik Nemeth from what was thought to be a season-ending wrist injury has added some much-needed physicality and positional awareness to a group that was already getting excellent puck movement from 22-year-old John Klingberg and solid two-way play from 23-year-old Jyrki Jokipakka. Whoever mans the pipes for this team moving forward will benefit from some excellent support.

Hockey's Culinary Delights

Max Pacioretty — Le Max 67

Minas Panagiotakis/Icon Sportswire

With burger madness consuming the NHL due to the exploits of Senators sensation Andrew (Hamburglar) Hammond, McDonald’s in Canada honored Canadiens winger Pacioretty with an Angus beef patty topped with bacon bits, tri-color nachos, cheese, tomato, onion and nacho sauce. Here are 12 more notable comestibles that offer a distinct hockey flavor.

T.J. Oshie — Oshie O's

Scott Rovak/NHLI via Getty Images

Cereal boxes, especially in Canada, have long been graced by the likes of Wayne Gretzky, Eric Lindros and other NHL icons. O-lympic legend Oshie is only one of the most recent NHLers to have a circular honey nut toasted oat cereal named in his honor. Each purchase benefits the March of Dimes.

Jonathan Quick — Quick Crunch

Len Redkoles/NHLI via Getty Images

These mouthwatering frosted flakes are merely the official breakfast victuals of the Kings goaltender. Proceeds from sales go to his 326 Foundation.

Alex Ovechkin — Mr. Big Deal

Walter Iooss Jr./SI

The Capitals' zany sniper joined such sports luminaries as Reggie Jackson, Ken Griffey Jr. and Shaq O'Neal in the grand tradition of having their faces on the wrapper of a candy bar. The Mr. Big bar, a chocolate confection popular in Canada, has been around for years and Ovie is merely one of its big name endorsers.

Ryan Miller — Kick-Save Krunch

Bill Wippert/NHLI via Getty Images

In 2010 the Sabres' star netminder began appearing on breakfast tables in the greater Buffalo area. Proceeds from sales benefitted his Steadfast Foundation.

Brett Hull — Hull-O's

Gene Puskar/AP

The man who won the Stanley Cup for the Stars with a controversial goal in the 1999 final ended up on a box of his own frosted toasted oats breakfast treats. No, his skate wasn't in the cereal.

Chris Osgood — Chris Osgood's Championship Cereal

David E. Klutho/SI

The Red Wings netminder won three of Lord Stanley's old silver bowls to fill with his own honey nut toasted oats (the cereal variety most favored, it seems, by athletes seeking to start the day with you).

Steve Yzerman — Stevie's Stars

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Besides leadership and scoring, the legendary Red Wings captain was good for 13 essential vitamins and minerals.

Dominik Hasek — Hasek Hot Sauce

Lou Capozzola/SI

It was only natural, we suppose, that the Sabres' occasionally fiery goaltender would put out something spicy to slather on Buffalo wings. Produced by the aptly-named Buffalo Style Foods, sales of the Dominator's condiment benefitted local youth hockey programs.

Michael Peca — Peca's Pickles

Rick Stewart/Getty Images

If Michael Peca picked a peck of impeccable pickles, how many impeccable pickles would Michael Peca have picked? No doubt, these buggers were as a gritty as the center whose name and mug graced the label.

Adam Deadmarsh — Deli Dills

In the 1990s, the Avalanche winger's name skated on a line of deli dills (kosher, yet!), pickle pucks (something to break your teeth on) and steak sauce.

Jaromir Jagr — Peanut Butter

Gary Tramontina/AP

While dazzling spectators as a Penguin in the '90s, the mulleted Czech scoring star had his own creamy brand made by Public Labels Brands, Inc. of Pittsburgh and sold to benefit local charities. If you needed something to wash it down, Jagr's likeness also graced bottles of mineral water, but you had to go to his native Czech Republic to buy them.

Tim Horton — Tim Horton's Cafe & Bake Shop

Bruce Bennett Studios/Getty Images

The most well known hockey-related food item was created in 1964 in Hamilton, Ontario by the Hall of Fame defenseman who played in the NHL for 22 years and won four Stanley Cups. His Apple Fritter and Dutchie varieties were hugely popular and today you can grab Tim Hortons donuts, coffee and hot chocolate at more than 1,800 locations in Canada and the U.S.